Make a bold garden statement with colorful sunflowers

6:41 PM,
Jul. 3, 2013

Bouquets of sunflowers at a 2012 farmers market in Morristown.

Written by

Gretchen C. Van Benthuseyn
| For the Asbury Park Press

Recent garden columns in this space have been about plants in bloom at the time of publication, such as iris, lilacs and roses. These also are perennials, plants that live year-round and usually bloom once a season.

Sunflowers are annuals. You plant the seeds, they germinate, grow, bloom and die in one season. If you want to see some of these delightful flowers in your garden this year, you need to plant some seeds quickly. Like, drive to the garden center now and buy packages of seeds, or order online and plant soon.

Sunflowers come in all sizes, shapes, colors and mature at different times. Some ...